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riders, that’s for sure as there were five disciplines once again (Dirt, Park, Vert, Flat and Street) and even other classes next to the Pro class. Girls weren’t left behind either so the complete package was there.

Packing this all into one weekend is rough, especially when the weather doesn’t cooperate and rain destroys the original plan like it happened during the last few years. But not this time. The sun was present in Koellefornia which made things a lot more pleasant. Although sticking to the original time schedule is always a challenge (“BMX ist immer ein BiSchen chaotisch”), all contests were finished by the end of the weekend.

For a lot of people The World’s are a fun weekend to hook up with old friends. Many faces who rode “back in the day” showed up and grabbed a beer together to catch up on their lives and to bring up old stories from contests and experiences on the road. That alone is worth the trip, it’s a BMX family reunion that brings like minded people together. The old school crew had their own little thing going and presented a lot of their bikes. BMX shops and distributors had set up their booths to sell their stuff as did companies that used the event to reach their “target group”.

The party life was present as well. Camp Holland was in full effect on Thursday night. The Zoobruecke became Dutch territory for a long night ,which ended with some crispy hamburgers from the Masterchef Weber. Fridaynight was spent at the Arty Fartsy pub for the Pavement Experience video premiere, followed by the Disco Dogs at Gloria. Saturday we skipped but the party continued in the Kalk Halle for those who did not have enough yet. But back to the contest. now

Flatland. When you order that big tent “just in case it will rain”, the weather is sunny and it gets hot inside. With the sides opened up it still got some wind coming in which made it bearable. Pro finals once again were super good. The floor was actually of a decent size, grippy enough and rather flat. Not many complaints were heard about that so props to whoever made that happen. During the finals anyone could have grabbed the title. All riders who made it in were capable of putting a winning run together. Qualifying in 8th, or something along those lines was Adam Kun. If I remember right he was the first rider up and nailed it. The remaining riders had their work cut out for them. Originality is important in flatland riding because if the tricks don’t progress, we will see the same tricks in five years from now. But pulling the new tricks during your run in front of a “sold out” crowd is something that no everyone managed to do. Adam’s winning run was never bettered so the Pro Flatland title went to Hungary in 2013.

Dirt. Always a highlight on Saturday night under the Zoobruecke. Ever since the change of location the jump builders (Hampl/Paulsen & Co.) have a limited space to create something for the dirt dawgs. This year the jumps were on the easy side, but you could boost them and send yourself to the roof and back if you wanted to. After two decent sized doubles a slanted wall followed and headed to the last set via a roller. Nicholi Rogatkin also tricked the slanted wall (tailhip) and became the new Dirt World Champion! Nicholi might not be your typical dirt rider but at the World’s it was about doing tricks on the three jumps and Nicholi sure did that right. Cashroll, triple whips, you know the score. It got him the Pro Dirt title in Cologne.

Street. The park course included a section that catered more towards street riders. On that section a separate street contest was held. It had some big rails, drops and ledges that riders needed to rock to impress the judges. Carlo Hoffmann won the amateur class but brother Bruno was watching the comp from the side-lines with a broken foot so it wasn’t going to be a full Hoffmann victory on the street course of Cologne. Felix Prangenberg, Adrian Malmberg, and Paul Ryan were in it to win it. Malmberg ended up being the most consistent, technical and most burly rider of the day so the title went to the Simple Bikes rider.

Vert. A big change had been made on the vert part. A G-ramp was brought in with two roll-ins. Riders from the UK, USA, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Chile, Switzerland got together for many sessions during the weekend. For most of them riding with friends is already a great thing. Being at one place on the same ramp just ruled, especially if you’re standing on the deck together with Mat Hoffman. Although now sure if he was going to enter the contest or not, riding with the Condor is a treat. Seeing him ride is a treat as well. A true legend in the sport and he still has it. He ended up with a silver medal in the Pro class and was only beat by Coco Zurita who had such flow and style which was good for gold. Bronze went to Zach Shaw from the UK.

Park. The highlight of the event. When the crowd gathers around the park course and the finalists make it to the top of the ramps, the atmosphere gets electric. It’s all or nothing and the time to shine has arrived. With many top riders being at Nass in the UK, the number of top pro names in Cologne wasn’t as big as in previous years but the level of the riders was right there. And Australia has plenty of rather unknown riders who rip it up and can deal with the top pros any day of the week, even after a 36 hour trip from Down Under. But it was that one experienced rider from Venezuela that ruled in Cologne, like he ruled in Munich a few weeks earlier. Daniel Dhers is a trick machine and knows how to put his runs together and when he needs to step it up. Second place went to Chris Courtenay from Australia and third went to Declan Brooks from the UK who entered many disciplines in Cologne and had a bad crash at the end of his run which sent him to hospital so he couldn’t pick up his bronze plate. Speedy recovery to the Brit.

Another one in the books. Good vibes all in all with the people that showed up. The sunshine always makes things much better. Congrats to the champions. Now get yourself that major deal.

BdJ